Windmill



Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in winddriven electric generators of the type employed on farms and ranches for generating electricity for light and power.

It is the object of this invention to produce a simple and substantial winddriven generator of a simple design which can be readily erected on a building or on any suitable support and employed for charging storage batteries or for operating lamps or motors directly connected with it.

Another object of this invention is to produce a construction of such design that the generator can quickly be attached thereto, and removed therefrom and which shall be connected with its supporting means by roller bearings that permit it to adjust itself freely to the direction of the wind.

Another object of this invention is to produce a construction by means of which the vane can be adjusted without danger of having the tension members employed in such adjustmenhbecome twisted as they frequently do unless special means is provided for preventing it.

The above and other objects that may become apparent as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail, and for this purpose reference will be had to the aocompanying drawing in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved winddriven generator; y

Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the propeller and a part of the vane removed;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4 4, Fig. 1;

In the drawing reference numeral 5 represents a tubular support which may be an ordinary gas pipe. The lower end of this support may be fastened to the top of a building or may be secured to the ground by means of a concrete slab or held in upright position in any suitable manner. At-

tached to the upper end of the support is a collar having a downwardly extending flange 6 that nts against the outside of the pipe and an upwardly extending ange 7 of larger diameter. An inwardly extending Bange 8 fits against the Aupper end of the support 5 and holds the cap in position. Located in the annular space that is bounded by the inside of ange 7 is a roller bearing 9 of well known construction. A cradle 10 is supported on the top of the pipe 5 and this cradle has a bottom 11 from which extends in a downward direction a pipe 12 whose outer diam? eter is such that it will enter the support 5 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. The bottom 11 of the cradle rests on the inner ring of the roller bearing. The cradle is provided with two vertical sides 13 and 14 and located within the space be- 60 tween the sides and the bottom is a generator 15. The generator is of the type now employed in conncction with automobiles and is so constructed that it will generate a substantially constant current regardless of the speed at which it is running, above the minimum speed. The generator is held in place by means of a U-shaped clamping bolt i6 and has secured to its drive shaft a propeller 17. In the drawing a two-blade propeller similar to that employed on aercplanes has been shown, but any number of blades can be used and instead or a propeller, a wheel like that employed on ordinary windmills can be substituted. The sides 13 and 14 are connected at their rear ends by means of a semi-circular member 18, as shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 2.

A va :e comprising a frame having a bottom bar 19 and a top bar 20 is secured to the cradle by means of a bolt 21, which passes through suitable openings in the bars 22 and 19 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The bolt 21 serves as a pivot and permits the vane to be moved relative to the axis of the generator. A fiat piece of sheet metal like that indicated by reference numeral 23 is secured to the end oi the vane frame and forms the vane against which the wind reacts. Attached to the cradle is a stop 24 which is made of two parts bent at right angles and in which the part 25 is so positioned that it will engage the upright 26 when the vane is in operative position. A spring 27 extends from the stop to the vane and is tensioned to hold the vane in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When the generator is to be rendered inoperative, the vane is moved about its pivot 2l in a clockwise direction, (Fig. 2) until it reaches a position substantially at right angles to the axis of the generator and in order to move the vane to this position a liexible tension member 28, which may be a chain or a wire cable, has one end attached to the Vertioai bar 29 of the vane frame and passes around a pulley 3G at the end of the bracket 31 that projects outwardly from the supporting cradle as shown in Fig. 2. Another pulley 32 is pivoted to rotate about a horizontal axis and the tension member also passes over this pulley and thence downwardly, the lower end being provided with a link 33 by means of which connection is made to the lug 34 that is secured to the outer ball race 35 of a ball bearing like that illustrated in Fig. 3,

of the spring 27.

The bearing also has an inner ball race 36 that is separated from the ring by balls in the usual manner. The inner ball race is attached to a guide comprising a ring 37 from which two spaced parallel bars 38 extend downwardly in the manner shown in Fig. l. The lower ends of bars 38 are connected by a ring 39 that has an opening which is in alignment with the space 40 between the bars. A lug 41 extends outwardly from the tubular member and serves to prevent the inner ring of the bearings from rotating relative to the support while permitting it to move longitudinally thereon. Secured to the ring 35 is a bar 42 that extends upwardly parallel with the axis of the support and passes through an opening 43 in a guide 44. The bar 42 prevents the outer ring from rotating relative to the cradle and generator, while the bars 38 prevent the inner ring from rotating relative to the support and therefore it is evident that when the free end of a tension member 28 is connected with the lug 34, the parts connected with the cradle can be rotated without getting the tension member wrapped around the support. Another tension member 45 is attached to ,the lug 46 and extends downwardly to a point where it can be reached by the operator and if the generator is to be stopped, tension is applied to the member 45 sufiicient to turn the vane about its pivot in opposition to the action Conductors 47 are connected with the generator and extend downwardly through the interior of the supporting pipe 5 and the lower end of one of these conductors is connected to one pole of the battery 48, while the other conductor is connected with a terminal on an instrument board which consists of a cut-out 49 that connects the generator to the battery when the voltage has reached a predetermined value and an ammeter 50 that can be used, if desired. Extending from the battery are two con-- ductors 5l that can be run to any place where a light or a motor is to be operated.

Since the conductors 47 have been shown incidentally only, no rotary connector has been illustrated. In the actual construction a rotatable connector of the general type shown in Fig. 3 of U. S. Patent No. 1,734,245 can be employed. It is not considered necessary to have a rotatable connector as the windmill does not always turn in the same direction about its vertical axis and therefore there is Very little danger of twisting the conductors sufficiently to cause damage.

The characteristics of a generator like the one employed here and which is the same as that of the ordinary automobile generator is well known and its principal feature that the voltage will remain practically constant at all speeds above a predetermined speed, and therefore no exterior voltage regulation is required as the generator will continue to produce current at a given voltage at all speeds above a minimum. It is apparent that since the generator can be operating continuously, that it will be able to charge a number of ordinary battery cells and therefore a comparatively large load can be run from the batteries for a short time, as the accumulation of electricity is practically continuous, and in this way a small generator will be able to take care of a large number of lights or other electric devices. The voltage of the generator can be anything desired and for ordinary use the six or twelve volt batteries employed in connection with automobiles can be used here, or a special wound generator delivering thirty-two volts can be substituted so as to make the device suitable for use with equipment requiring thirty-two volts which is the voltage usually employed in connection with farm lighting systems.

It will be seen from the above description that this device is of a simple and substantial construction and that it is so designed that the tension members by means of which the vane is adjusted, pass downwardly on the outside of the support and are connected by a means which prevents the tension members from being wrapped around the tubular support. ttention is also called to the roller bearing on which the cradle and generator are supported which produces a substantially frictionless connection that permits the parts to adjust themselves to the direction of the wind.

Having described the invention what I claim as new is:

A windmill having a vertical stationary, substantially, cylndrical support, a cradle having a tubular member projecting downwardly from its under surface and extending into the upper end of the tubular support, a vane frame secured to the cradle through a vertical hinge, a tubular sleeve slidably surrounding the cylindrical support, said sleeve having a slot extending in the direction of its length, a lug on the outside of the support and projecting into the slot to hold the sleeve from turning on the support while permitting it to move longitudinally thereon, a collar rotatably connected with the sleeve near the upper end thereof, a pulley journaled to the cradle, a flexible member trained over the pulley and secured at its extremities to the vane frame and to the collar respectively whereby when the sleeve is moved longitudinally on the support the vane will turn about its hfnge and means for holding the collar against rotation relative to the cradle, said means comprising a rod se cured at its lower end to the collar and slidably connected with the cradle.

DAVID E. DAVIS.

lOO 

